


Sing Me

by petitfleur (moonfleur)



Series: Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby [7]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Future, Ambiguous Relationships, Korean Mythology, M/M, fox spirits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 08:50:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21051641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonfleur/pseuds/petitfleur
Summary: A breathy chuckle sounded from the doorway behind him and he felt a smile start to form on his lips.“Melancholy doesn’t suit that face of yours.” The voice said, sounding a lick closer than it had been before.





	Sing Me

**Author's Note:**

> A bit late because I’ve been travelling and then, with everything happening in the industry, it didn’t feel right to post it on the day. But here it is! My 00fftober drabble for days 12 & 13’s prompts.

He sat himself on the edge of the rooftop, legs dangling, letting the sounds of the city below wash over him. He heard everything, from the chatter of the few people who still walked the streets to the crackle of the massive holographic billboards that adorned the faces of many a building nowadays. Even the near-silent hum of the hover cars hadn’t failed to reach him, despite him being at least a good 60 storeys away from the ground. 

He looked out over the city he now called home, the cool glow from the hologram ads mixing with the harsh neon coming from the numerous signboards that decorated the walls of the buildings to ring the city in a halo of light. The mist that had settled over the city almost 50 years ago, and never left, lent a strange softening effect to the cityscape, almost as if the city was created with water colour and someone had taken a brush and gone over the entirety of it. There were no more edges, from where he was observing, just lights, sounds and colours. The smell of pollution-laced petrichor and post-rain humidity reinforcing the idea that the city was just a watercolor painting and him but a smudge on its horizon. 

A leftover drop from one of the many water-laden clouds overhead hit him square in the face at the same time he’d decided to tilt his head back and he sighed, ears twitching in annoyance. One of his tails swished forward and the raindrop was no more. A breathy chuckle sounded from the doorway behind him and he felt a smile start to form on his lips. 

“Melancholy doesn’t suit that face of yours.” The voice said, sounding a lick closer than it had been before. He hadn’t been surprised though, he’d heard footsteps on the landing below and there was always his _ smell _. There was no mistaking his scent, all woody, with a little mint and always coated with a layer of cigarette smoke. 

“Jaemin.” He nodded in acknowledgment, turning back slightly to get a better look at the other guy. “And why shouldn’t it? Melancholy doesn’t have a type.”

“Renjun.” Jaemin smirked, mimicking his tone and taking a seat beside him at the edge. “You’re much too young to be looking like you carry the world on your shoulders.”

Renjun scowled, smacking him in the back of the head with his tails. “You _ do _ know I’m bordering on my first millenium. I pretty much _ have _ been carrying the world on my shoulders.” He sighed. “Do you know how many times I’ve seen cities like this rise and fall?”

“And yet here you sit, looking not a day over 21.” Jaemin paused, cocking his head to the side as he studied him. “And, as always, so _ pretty _.”

Renjun felt his ears warm and thanked the spirits for the cover of night, and Jaemin’s human eyes. 

“Stop it,” he retorted, reaching out to push the boy’s face back so that he’d be facing away, fingers lingering just a bit longer than they needed to. “I’m old enough to have been your dad ten times over.”

Jaemin’s head whipped towards him at his words, the glint in his eye discernible even through the darkness. “What if I said I would have liked you to be my da-”

He was cut off by a mouthful of fur as Renjun smacked him in the face with a tail, his face well and truly coloured now. 

“No.” He choked out, voice strangled. “We are _ not _ going there. Or having this discussion. At any point. Ever.”

“Or what?” Jaemin asked, sly smile plastered across his face as he leaned over, fingers casually twirling the tail that had smacked him. 

Renjun scowled and snatched his tail out of the boy’s fingers. “Or I retract my offer.”

Jaemin frowned at the seriousness in his voice and sat back on his haunches. “You can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can. And you haven’t accepted it yet anyway.” Renjun narrowed his eyes at the other boy, who was looking more and more worried. “But I won’t. For now. Speaking of which, have you made a decision?”

“I… I have. I think." Jaemin frowned, as if still in contemplation, before continuing. “I don’t think it was much of a choice for me anyway.”

Renjun’s traitorous heart stuttered, just a bit, at his words but he willed himself to be calm. There was no use getting ahead of himself, it may not mean what he thought anyway. Shifting, he rearranged himself until he was facing the boy head on.

“Is that a yes?”

“Y-Yeah.” Jaemin breathed, eyes trained on him, unmoving despite the tremor in his voice. It was so irrefutably Jaemin, the way he was able to look at him and then right through, as though he could make out the secrets Renjun kept buried deep within himself. And there was something else tonight, a difference in the way Jaemin was looking at him, that made him feel as though sparks were dancing along his skin. He shivered at the sensation, noting with a strange satisfaction the way Jaemin’s gaze wavered at the movement, before finally continuing.

“Okay. You’re sure? I won’t be able to take it back.” He warned.

Reaching forward, Jaemin grabbed his hand, not once breaking their eye contact. “I’m sure, Jun. But, are _ you? _”

Renjun smiled at him, properly, for the first time that night, grip tightening on his hand. “As sure as the day I offered it to you.”

So Jaemin smiled back. “Let’s do this then.”

“Okay, but first…” Renjun trailed off as he grabbed Jaemin’s other hand in his and squeezed. There was the familiar rush of pressure, a small pop that he hoped was just his ears and nothing vital, and the two of them were back in his tin can of an apartment. The cold gray walls and dim lighting a poor reflection of the world outside. 

Jaemin groaned, pulling away from Renjun to press his palms against his temples. “Please warn me before you do that next time. It always feels like my brain is gonna be squeezed out of my ears.” 

“Oh please, you’ll be fine. It’s just a little pressure.” Renjun snorted, but he pulled Jaemin back towards him anyway, hands already reaching to replace Jaemin’s. 

Like that, they were infinitely a lot closer than they had been on the rooftop, and he could practically feel the way Jaemin’s eyes were roving across his face, stopping briefly on his lips before moving back up to meet his gaze once more. 

“Better?” He asked, voice barely more than a whisper now that they were in the silence of his apartment and so close he was so sure Jaemin would be able to hear even his thoughts. 

Jaemin nodded soundlessly, not once breaking his gaze, so Renjun shifted, moving his hands so that they were carded through his hair and tugging just enough to til Jaemin’s chin up towards him. Leaning in, he stops barely a hair’s breadth away from Jaemin.

“No take backs,” he murmured, breath ghosting across Jaemin’s lips. 

“None.” Jaemin answered, closing the gap between them. 

For a moment, Renjun lost himself in the feeling of Jaemin’s lips on his, in the hands that had wound their way around his neck and pulled him closer. And closer he went until the moan he let out when Jaemin parted his lips brought him back to his senses. _ Not now _, he told himself sharply. 

Since Jaemin had done the job of opening their mouths to each other, they were already halfway there. Focusing on himself, he reached into the essence of his being and drew out a piece, shaping it into a small ball. It took shape in his mouth, solidifying to the size of a large marble. Tentatively, he maneuvered the ball delicately into Jaemin’s mouth, licking into it for good measure. He felt Jaemin shiver at the sensation before stiffening at the foreign presence in his mouth. Smiling, he pulled away, breaking the kiss. 

“Swallow it.” He whispered against his lips before pressing a chaste kiss against his lips one last time. 

Jaemin blinked back at him, bewildered for all of one second, before he nodded and swallowed. Renjun was ready for the moment when Jaemin’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed, catching him swiftly and lowering him gently to the ground. He repositioned their bodies so that Jaemin was resting securely in his arms and he could card his fingers through the boy’s hair with ease. Jaemin was trembling slightly so Renjun leaned forward and pressed a firm kiss to his forehead, “Remember what I told you to do,” he murmured against his skin. “You’ll be okay.”

They remained frozen in this position, Jaemin in Renjun’s arms shuddering occasionally, and Renjun continuously stroking his hair while whispering words of encouragement. It seemed like hours had passed before Jaemin finally stirred, eyes fluttering slowly as his consciousness returned to him. Groaning, he curled inwardly on himself and Renjun’s grip tightened just a bit on him. “How are you feeling?” 

“I… I don’t know. A bit weird. A lot overwhelmed.” He pressed his eyes shut, frown etched on his face. 

Renjun chuckled, hands moving to smooth away the frown lines on his face. “A thousand years of knowledge is a lot for the human mind to handle. You did well, Jaemin.”

Jaemin was silent for a while, processing the information, Renjun assumed, before his eyes snapped open and he turned to glare at Renjun. “_ Why _ did you offer this to me? I know what it means now, giving your pearl away. _ Why _?”

The anger in his gaze was strong enough for Renjun to want to back away, but he stayed his ground, fingers reaching out to brush softly against the boy’s cheek as if to brush the anger away. “You gave me back my humanity. After a thousand years of preying on humans, you taught me what it was like to be one again. You deserve more than just the pearl, if I'm being honest.”

“But this is your _ life _.” The look Jaemin gave him was pained. “You’re literally putting your life in my hands.”

“It’s safe there. I trust you, Jaemin.” He paused. “And with it, you’ll be safe.” Another pause, followed by a deep breath. “From me.”

“From you?” Jaemin asked, his face a mask of confusion. 

“If I were to ever… revert… I wouldn’t be able to hurt you. Now while you hold a part of me.”

Understanding blossomed across Jaemin’s features, but the frown remained. “But I’m mortal, Jun. When I go, this will go with me… and so will you.”

“Then I’ll go willingly. I’ve been alive for a thousand years. I’m tired.” Renjun smiled then. “And if it’s with you, I don’t mind.”

Jaemin balked at his words, flushing a bright red all the way up to his ears. “Are you trying to get me to like you, Huang Renjun?”

“Is it working?” He asked back, canines flashing as he grinned down at him. 

“Not yet.” Jaemin huffed before eyeing him once more, signature smirk on his face. “But who knows what’ll happen after a few more of those kisses. Maybe I’ll-” His words were cut off with a yelp as Renjun captured his lips with his once more. 

“Shut up and remind me again what it’s like to be human.” Renjun murmured against his lips and Jaemin, smiling as he brought their lips back together, wasted no time in complying. 

**Author's Note:**

> As always thank you so much for reading! If you liked it do leave a kudos or a comment, they keep me going🖤 
> 
> For those unfamiliar with the lore: Nine-tailed fox spirits occur in Korean, Chines and Japanese folklore but I adapted the Korean version. In theirs, the spirits tend to be inherently evil but they also possess the fox bead/pearl. If a human manages to receive a pearl from a fox, they will be granted special powers/knowledge. Obviously I adapted the myth to suit the fic BUT #funfact - the transfer of the pearl can only happen through a kiss in the original lore so obviously I kept it. 
> 
> That’s all for now, if you have any more questions or just want scream at me about k-pop/mythology, feel free to hit me up on:
> 
> ❆ [twitter](http://twitter.com/moonfleur_)   
❆ [cc](https://curiouscat.me/moonfleur_)


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